Continuous-drawn sheet-glass machine.



L. A. THORNB URG. CONTINUOUS DRAWN SHEET GLASS MACHINE.

. APIPLIOATION FILED SEPT.5,1907.

956,449, I' I Patented Apr.26,,1910.

5 SHEETS-SHEET l.

I 2- I x I v Fig. I

I I I I I I I I I I I I I I IZV I 2 1 I WITNES.ISES.- INVENTOR.

' Lincoln A.-Thombur Tk -ITNESSES:

L. A THOB-NBURG. CONTINUOUS DRAWN SHEET GLASS MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 5,1907.

956,449; Pat nted Apr. 26, 1910 q. 5 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

a )2 INVENTORI.

Eincoln A Thomburg.

. ATTO NEY.

L. A. THORNBURG. CONTINUOUS DRAWN SHEET GLASS MACHINE. I APPLICATION FILED SBPT.5,190'7.

956,449. Patented Apr. 26, 1910.

5 SHBETSSEISET 3.

WITNESSES: INVENT'OR. QM fimo w, Lincoln A-T110r11Lut3 ATTORNEY.

' L. A. THORNBURG.

CONTINUOUS DRAWN SHEET GLASS MACHINE. APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 5, 1907.

, V Patented Apr.26,1910.

5 SHEETS-43113111 4.

WITNESSES: w I INVENTOR. Hm lncolnfi fhor'uburg ATTORNEY.

I L. A. THORNBURGJ CONTINUOUS DRAWN SHEET GLASS MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED s11 PT. 5,19o7.

4 Patented Apr. 26, 1910.

- WHNESSES: INVENTOR;

like numerals refer to like or .plate glass.

H UNITED STATES PATENT oFFic LINCOISN A. THORNBURG, OF HARTFORD QITY, INDIANA.

CONTINUQU'S DRAWN SHEET-GLASS MACHINE.

,To all whom, it my concern: I

-Be it knownthatxLLINooLN A. Tnoim BURG, of Hartford City, county of Blackford, and State of Indiana, have invented 5 a certain new and useful Continuous-Drawn Sheet-Glass Machine; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact. description thereof, reference being had tothe accompanying drawings, in which arts.

The object of this invent on is to provide apractical means for drawing sheet glass One feature of the invention consists in the construction of the forehearth for the purpose, wherein the bottom slopes upwardly .to the-drawin the glass in the forehearthfisimore shallow and. of. even temperature. Furthermore,

walls or partitions in the forehearth are provided'to' cause the glass. to have a long distance to travel reaching th'e'dra\\'ing point so that it may become somewhat 0001; also I protect the surface'of the glass at the drawing-point by a-surrounding strucunifgrmity- ,0

4? tion to engage the glass.

is provided with laterally extending ball ture extending downwardthrough the sur face "of the glassand into the same for av slight distance for holding .back the top surface of the glass and allow the glass to bedrawn from the bottom and thus have aneventemperature and homogeneitly oharacter;-'also I provit an assage-Ip'ay along each lateral edge of the rawing point for cooling thelateral edges-ofthe sheet of glass as it is being staedni Another feature'of the invention consists iii/themechanism for elevating the con-- .t inn'ous sheet of glass. To that end a verto ti ,lly moving endless conveyer is provided .urrying spring controlled grips for holding the edges of the-sheet of glass, .said grips being longitudinallymovableso that they may be moved out of and into posi- Also the conveyer bearingsinoving in suitable vertical guide ways. Also means above said endless con veyer for further elevating the sheet of glass,

said means consisting of oppositely mounted shafts carrying rubber friction wheels for engaging the surfaceofthe glass and elevating the same, said shafts being springpressed toward each other.

5 Another feature of the invention consists in the cuttingoit mechanism, a suitable gpoint so that at that point mechanism in rear elevation;

line 0-6 0,

of the top'of the glass drawing mechan sm,

. Specification of letters Patent. Patented X111; 26, 1910. application filed September 5, 1907. serial Nb. 391,465. a

is broken 0th In this connection said elecf trical clamping rule is provided with three slots through whlch diamondcutters'inay be operated for niaking three lncisions so the cracking of the sheet of glass. The nature of this invention will be un that the glass may be broken at the middle inclsion and the other incisions will prevent derstood from the accompanying drawings and the following description andclaims.

In the drawings Figure 1 is a side eleva? tion of the apparatus, a part'of the glass tank being broken away and parts shown in dotted lines.

Fig. 2 is aseetion on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1 showing the sheet drawing perspective view of thestarting plate. Fig. 4. isaa horizontal section on the line 4L4.of

Fig. 1', showing a. plan view 9f the forehearth and a section of: a part of the tank,

the remainder of the tank being broken away. Fig. 5 is a vertical section transversely of the forehearth on the line 5-5 of Fig. 4. Fi 6 is a "vertical section on the Fig. 4. Fig.7 is a plan view showi11g",tl1e cracking-off bar. Fig. 8. is a horizontal section on the line 8-8 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 9 i'sga vertical section on the line 99 01 Figs. 2 and-8. Fig, lO-is a section on the line 10-10 of Fig.8, the parts being on a larger scale. Fig. 11 is a horizontal sec tion on the line 11-11 of Fig. 2. Fig. 12

is the same as Fig.1l with the grips released from the sheet of glass. Fi .13 isa front elevation of the mechanism line 14-44 of Fig. 11.. 15 shows the lower part ofFig. 9 on an en arged scale and 4 or starting the sheet of glass. Fig.14 is a section on the with parts omitted and parts broken away,

the parts shown being in an altered; position.

Fig. 16 is a erspective View of a part of the cutting-o mechanism, a portion being in vertical section on the line 16'16 of Fig. '2. Fig. 17- is a horizontal section through the device on the line 1717- of Fig. 15, the same being, however, centrally broken away.' Fig. 18 is a vertical section on the line 18 -18 of Fig. 17. 1 a

WVhile I do not wish to be limited to any particular details of construction, the device herein shown for the purpose of illustrating the nature of my invention is as follows.

To any suitable glass tank 20 a forehearth 21 is provided. The arrangement of this forehearth appears best in Figs. 4, 5, and 6. It consists of a bottom 11 that may be a lateral continuation of the bottom of the glass tank, and an outer surrounding wall 22 extending from the wall of the tank. Openings 23 in the wall of the tank are provided for permitting the molten glass to flow naturally into the forehearth. The chamber 24 is the drawing point or place from which the molten sheet of glass is drawn. To that point the bottom of the chamber 25 in the central part of the hearth slopes upwardly, as shown in Figs. 5 and 6. This chamber 25 of the hearth is separated by walls 26 and 27 from'the chambers 28 leading from the openings 23 in the tank and the chamber 29 transversely connecting said chambers 28. Between the walls. 26 and 27 there is a passage way 30 through which the glass flows from the chambers 28 into the central chamber'25. \Vithin the central chamber 25 a pair of blocks 31 are built upwardly from the bottom to support the breakers 32. The breakers are plates or blocks that extend slightly below the surface of the molten glass and therefore there is ample space under them for the passage of the glass from the chamber 25 to the drawing point 24. Also the blocks .are centrally cut out on each side as indicated by the dotted lines 33, in Fig. 4, to form a horizontal passage way 34 below the tops of each the glass to become m-oreshallow and of even.

temperature as it reaches the drawing point. The walls 26 are near the glass tank where the glass is hottest andytheir forward ends project forwardly and beyond the drawing point so that the molten glass will have a long distance to flow to the drawing and Will become cooler. The walls 27 have sub: stantiall the same function. The blocks 31 and re'akers 32 both project above the level of the glass so thatat the drawing oint they constitute a wall about the surace of-the glass for the urpose of holding back the top surface 0 .the glass in the chambers 25 and 28 and allow the glass to be drawn from the bottom or from below the surface where the glass is of more even temperature and homogeneous or of uniform character.

The opposing faces of the blocks 31 have vertically dis osed V-shaped grooves 35 for holding the e ges' of the sheet of glass while being started. Immediately to each side of the apex of these V-sha ed grooves and within the blocks 31 there 1s a vertically disposed air passage 36 formed of a pipe extending down into the bottom of the forehearth and then horizontall to the open air. These air passages are or the purpose of stiffening the sheet of less on its lateral edges as it is being started.

Above the forehearth described a .sheet glass drawing mechanism is mounted, they being here' described as three rectangular frames, a lower one 40, a middle one 41 and an upper one 42. The lower frame has lateral beams 43 on which shaft for sprocket wheels 44 and 45 are mounted, one above and one below the other for carrying sprocket chains 46. The sprocket wheels 44 are driven by a belt 47 from the shaft on a motor 48, said belt running over the pulley 49 and the shaft 50, on which said sprocket wheels vare secured. The two sprocket chains carry a number, here four, of sets of grips, as shown in Figs. 11 and 12. There 1s a cross bar 53 secured to the chains 46 carrying in its ends rods 54 the ball shaped rollers 55 running in vertical guides'57 carried on the arms 58 that is secured on the side beams on the frame 40, see Fig. 2. A block 60 is secured on the outer side of each bar near each end, see Fig. 14, that has a square central aperture through which one member 61 of the grip is mounted so as to be longitudinally ,slidable therein. Each grip consists of this member 61 and a par allel companion member 62 fulcrumed to a pair of fulcrum bars 63 secured to the members 61. A spring 64 is secured to said members 61 and (33 so as to tend to push their outer ends apart and their inner ends together, whereby the inner ends may grasp the starting plate 65 on the sheet of glass, as shown in Fig. 11 and be released and withdrawn as shown in Fig. 12, this latter being done by hand.

It is obvious that as the mechanism operates, the chain 46 will be operated in the direction of the arrows and at least two of the sets of grips will be on the front side of the conveyer and in a vertical line over the drawing point 24 in the forehearth below; For starting the glass the starting plate 65 is placed in the set of grips with the lower end of the starting plate-extending down into the glass in the forehearth. The late 65 being cool, relatively, the glass ad eres to it. operated slowly and as the starting plate r1ses it will draw up the sheet of .glass 66. As the same proceeds the sheet of glass will be drawn vertically between a pair of blocks held by the springs 71 connected to the arms 72 which are fastened to the side of the frame 40. The par )ose of the blocks 70 is to hold the sheet 0 glass straight'and The mechanism is then started and reventlit warping while it is still somewhat exible. \Vhen the sheet of glass is drawn far enough the following set of grips en gage its edges. the springs 64 causing the grips to holdit tightly and the springs 75,

see Fig. 11, which are secured to the member 61 of the grip and to the block 60, tend to draw thegrip longitudinally toward the 'sheet'of glass and hold it in place. This process continues so as to continuously draw the sheet of glass and move it vertically,

In the frame -11 above the frame 40 there Wheels 81 totightly grip the sheet of glass.

They are driven by a sprocket chain 84: running from the sprocket wheel on the shaft to the sprocket wheel on one of the rods 80 and a sprocket chain 86 running from the sprocket wheels on said rod 80, to

sprocket wheels on the rods 80 above; This drives one vertical seriesof rods 80 and the other series are driven through the gears 85 on the ends of each pair of rods 80 and which inter-mesh.

The glassb'ecomes hard by the time it passes through the frame 41 and in the frame 42 above it is cut in sheets and while it is still moving vertically upon the upper cross timbers of the frame 41, a Wooden bar are securedlon'the ends of bar 91 so that or rule is placed transversely and unsecured. A companion bar 91- made of wood is similarlyv'pla'ced parallel with the rule 90 so that the sheet of glass will pass between said bars 90 and 91. They are normally held apart from each other to admit the glass by springs 92 between them and on the rods 93 which extend loosely through said bars 90 and 91. Said bars are located with their ends on opposite sides of vertical guide rods extending from the bottom to the top ofthe endsof the top frame 42. Electrical/conductors 95 extend to steel plates 190)},o'n the rule 90 and magnets 191 when there is a current through said conductors 95 the bars,90 and 91 will be drawn together to clamp the sheet of glass- The rule 90 is clampedaby the operator at the exact point where he wishes to cut the sheet of glass and as tl e sheet of glass moves up Ward carrying tl e clamped bars 90 and 91 with it he runs his cutter or diamond transversely across the face of the sheet of glass.- This rule 90, as seen in F ig. 16, is formed of three slots extending horizontally for a portion of the length thereof so that a cutter with three diamonds may be simultaneouslymoved and operated through said slots to make three parallel scores in the glass. This is for the purpose of enabling the glass to be broken away along the line of the middle score on each side of said middle line, which will prevent the cracking of the glass. As the glass feeds upward and passes between the pair of transverse bars 95 mounted on the top of the frame 4-2and when the middle score in the glass made by "the cutter reaches'the upper edges of said bars 90 the sheet'of glass 15 broken away and removed to the bar. The bars 96 therefore afford an edge over which the glass may be severed. After the sheet of glass has been started by'means of the starting plate 65. said plate is removed and need not be again used until it necessary to .again start a shcetpt' glass.

What I claim as my invention and desire to secure by. Letters Patent is 1. A forehearth for a glass tank having a point from which a continuous sheet of glass may be drawn, a pair of oppositely located blocks extending upfrom the bottom of the forehearth above the surface of-thc molten glass in the forehearth, one on each side of the drawing point, and each block havinga central opening through the lower part thereof to thedrawing point, and platesrextending between the opposite ends of said blocks that do not extend to the bottom of the forehe'arth-for forming a protecting wall in the surface of the glass around the drawing point,

2. A forehearth for a glass atank from which a continuous sheet of glass may be drawn, blocks in said forehearth on each side of the drawing point, and air pipes elvtending upward in said forehearth near the lateral edges of the drawing point, whereby air passing through said pipes will chillvthe glass near the edges of -the sheet while being vals to said chains, arms extending from the ends of said cross bars, rotatable balls on the ends of said arms, vertical guides in which said balls move, and grips secured to said cross bars for gripping the edges of the sheet of glass and elevating it.

4. A continuous sheet glass drawing device including vertically movable endless chains, cross bars secured at intervals there to, horizontally extending grips'mounted in connection with said bars so as to be slid able toward and away from the sheet of glass being elevated, and springs for forcing said grips toward the sheet of glass.

5. A continuous sheet glass drawing device including a vertically disposed elevator blocks secured thereto with angular openings in them, grips consisting of two memllO bers fulcrumed together, one of said mem- 6. A continuous sheet glass drawing device including means for vertically elevating the sheet of glass, a' pair of parallel blocks between which the sheet of glass moves, and horizontal springs extending from the frame-work of the device to the ends of said blocks, whereby they are suspended, substantially as set forth.

7 A continuous sheet glass drawing device including means for elevating the drawn sheet of glass vertically, a rule, and means for clamping it transversely to the sheet of glass, whereby it will move with the sheet of glass and furnish a guide for a cutter.

8. A continuous sheet glass drawing device including means for elevating the drawn sheet of glass vertically, a rule extending transversely of said sheet of glass, and electrical means for clamping said rule to the sheet of glass so it will travel therewith.

9. A continuous sheet glass drawing device lncluding means for elevating the drawn sheet of glass vertically, a wooden rule placed transversely of the sheet of glass with a steel plate on each end, electrical connection with the metal ends of said rule, a wooden bar located on the opposite side of the sheet of glass and rule and parallel with the rule and having a soft iron plate on each end, and means for loosely holding said rule and bar relatively in place, whereby the electrical current will draw the rule and bar toward each other and clamp them on the sheet of glass.

10. A continuous sheet glass drawing device including means for elevating the drawn sheet of-glass vertically, a wooden rule placed transversely of the sheet of glass with a steel plate on each end, electrical con; nection with the metal ends of said rule, a wooden bar located on the opposite side of the sheet of glass and rule and parallel X with the rule andhaving a softiron plate on each end, bolts extending loosely through said rule and bar so they will be held 1n l proper relation with each other and can I move toward and from each other, and a spring tending to force them apart, substantially as set forth.

vice including means for elevating the drawn sheet of glass vertically, a wooden with a steel plate on each end electrical connection with the metal ends of said rule, a wooden bar located on the opposite side of the sheet of glass and rule and parallel with the rule, and having a soft iron plate on each end means for holding said rule and bar relatively in place, whereby the electrical current will draw the rule and bar toward each other and clamp them on the sheet of lass, and a vertically disposed guide rod etween the ends of said rule and bar, substantially as set forth.

12. A continuous sheet glass drawing device including means for ele'vatin the drawn sheet of glass vertically, a rue disposed transversely of the sheet of glass, an( means for clampin the rule to; the sheet of glass, said rule being provided with a pluralityof slots through which glass cutof glass moves, whereby the sheet may be broken off after it has been cut.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto afiixed my signature in the presence of the witnesses herein named.

mark

. Witnesses:

THOMAS R. Moons, M. C. Lnwrs,

ters may be operated, whereby three horicutting mechanism between which the sheet 111 v LINCOLN A. 2 THORNBURG.

11. A continuous sheet glass drawing derule placed transversely of the sheet of glass, 

